The Choices Of Champions
by squishymcd
Summary: Kasai Tatsu lives in Gradifal, a region north of Kanto and Johto. He, along with his sister, Lyra, embark on an epic pokémon journey. They face many challenges and thrills along the way, as well as many choices. But will they make the right ones?
1. Chapter 1: The Waterfall

"...And in othe...ount of dragon pokémon have in...ound the area of Mt. Amarth, the only active volcano remaining in the Gradifal region. Many are migrating from the below region of Kanto and the above region of Sinnoh, joining the few dragons already native to our region. This sudden migration is unknown in origin or reason, but many collectors and Dragon trainers of the region are delighted, and are thought to be preparing to storm the mountain in an attempt to capture them. This migration is similar to the Spearow and Taillow migrations from the recent years, which-"

What a story to wake up to. I always leave my radio on when I'm asleep. I don't know whether to be happy or appalled at the news. On one hand, there are going to be more Dragon type pokémon in my region. I like dragons. On the other, they're destined to be captured by collectors, treating them as trophies and prizes.

I sit up in my bed and rub my eyes. When the sleep is rubbed away and my eyes adjust to the light of day, I look around my room, finding my eyes drifting to the map of Gradifal on my wall. The pokémon in our region are made up entire of pokémon that have migrated from other regions, giving us a very mixed and mismatched variety of pokémon. North of Johto and Kanto, south of Sinnoh, bordered on the south-west by a desert, the prevailing winds of Hoenn greatly heating up the area near it. That's where I am. South-west. I like the weather here. Nice and mild, unlike most of the region, which is exceedingly cold. I live in Stave town, the smallest town in Gradifal. But I'm not complaining, I like how small it is. It's not as small as Pallet Town, but it's small. We've got houses, a pokémon research lab, which just opened, a pokémon centre, and a pub. A real pub. My dad, Jonathon opened it after he moved here from Johto, said he didn't want "any of that milk bar crap from back in Johto." I've never been out of Gradifal myself, but my dad tells me all about it. The differences, the similarities, the Pokémon. From the sound of it, I think I'd prefer it here, but I think I'll visit someday any ways. My mum, Hope, is from Kanto, daughter of a pokémon league champion. Apparently, him and his team are considered legendary even today. She doesn't talk about her dad much, probably because she didn't follow in his footsteps. She became a nurse, for both people and pokémon. She loves her job. I sometimes go to work with her when I'm bored and help out, and I can see how happy she is at work.

I'm Kasai Tatsu. My friends call me Kai. I'm sixteen years old. Tall, skinny, yet built, brown hair stuck up in several directions, blue eyes. I look to my left and see my usual outfit hanging on the chair by my bed. Blue jeans, white jacket, red shirt. There's a charizard on the back, but people rarely see it, as I rarely take off my jacket. Some people think it clashes a bit, but I like it. I throw the covers off me and stand up. I quickly put on my clothes and a pair of old shoes. I look over at my dresser and see my hat. A cap, black, with a little red semicircle over the peak, which is white. I chuckle as I pick it up. I'm not overly fond of it, but it's kind of an unwritten rule. Anyone who's anyone wears a hat around here.

I walk out of my room and into the hallway. I notice my older sister's door is still closed as I walk past on my way to the stairs. We wake up at around the same time, but I get dressed in an average of thirty seconds. It takes her at least ten minutes. Unless the balance of the world is out of whack, my younger sister will be already at the table, fully dressed, despite waking up the same time as me. I run down the stairs, skipping every second step like I usually do, and turn the corner into the kitchen. There she is, Lyra. Shorter than me, big brown eyes. Cute girl. Named after a friend of my dad's. I've always wanted to know how she does that. Dressed and down stairs quick enough so I don't see her. She's wearing her white beret and her black and white dress, with a red belt. She's wearing her pokéball necklace. That's her favourite outfit, so she's obviously expecting stuff to happen today. She's good at that, guessing days like that. Lyra turns to me and smiles.

"Hey Kai! I saved you some bacon. Dad nearly ate it before he went to work." I smile at my fifteen year old sister. She loves bacon. Her saving me some is the equivalent of her giving me a kidney. "Thanks Ly.", I say as I sit down. "When did dad leave?" "Oh, about..." Lyra looks at her watch. It's got a horsea on it, her favourite pokémon. I gave it to her for her twelfth birthday. "...fifteen seconds ago." I give her a look. "How long have you been at the table?" I ask with a grin. "Oh, you know, about thirty-five seconds." "So, you came down stairs, sat down, grabbed the remainder of the bacon from dad, and split it in half in the space of thirty-five seconds?" She just looks at me and giggles. "Kai, don't be dumb. I had all that done in ten. I took the rest of the time to relax." I smile and continue to eat my bacon. I like Lyra. She's probably my best friend, and not just because she's my sister. The small age gap worked out perfectly for us, as well as the fact that Lyra and I are very similar.

I'm a lot closer to Lyra than my older sister, Yuki. Yuki and I get along great, but she treats Lyra and I with more motherly than sibling qualities. We don't mind though, it's nice to have a mother figure around since mum is always at work. I don't hold it against her, and she's not a bad mother or anything. She just works a lot, and that's fine. She loves work. Dad's rarely around too, but it's okay. He makes up for it any time he is. Yuki, Lyra and I are all happy with each other as our main family. Mum or dad cook the breakfast in the morning, Yuki, Lyra and I do any jobs we need to around the house, we spend time relaxing. We talk with each other, Lyra and I mostly about Pokémon. Yuki is persistent to see if I've got a girlfriend. Yuki usually cooks lunch. She's an amazing chef, although I'm pretty damn good too. Lyra can make bacon, but that's about it.

About eight minutes after Lyra and I finish breakfast, Yuki walks down the stairs. Eighteen years old. Taller than me, skinny, and if I'm to trust my guy friends, exceedingly good looking. She's wearing a red shirt and a black skirt. Her make-up is perfect, yet noticeable, as always. I don't even think Lyra wears make-up. Yuki walks into the kitchen and reaches into the cupboard and pulls out a box of cereal. Some fibre health stuff. Nobody in the house eats that stuff but Yuki. She walks over to the table, where Lyra and I are discussing our perfect teams, and sits down. "So darlings, good morning." She always does that, call us "darlings". Well, it changes, but it's always a pet name. We don't mind, it's kinda nice. "Good morning, Yuki." Lyra and I say at the same time, and then shoot each other a glance to say "Hey, don't do that." We both know we will. Speaking simultaneously is a habit of ours. I quickly jump in so I can speak next. "How'd you sleep, Yuki?" Yuki smiles warmly, as if I'd just said the nicest thing ever to her. That's a thing with her, she takes everything as if it's the greatest thing ever. I like that about her. It makes it really difficult to get on her bad side. "Very well, thank you darling. How about you?"

As I open my mouth to answer, Lyra interrupts. "He slept quite well. He had the dream about becoming a trainer again. His Treeko evolved in this one." I turn my head and stare at her. "It really bloody scares me when you do that. Seriously, stop it." Lyra giggles and punches me in the arm. "As if you could actually stop me." Yuki laughs and rubs both Lyra and I's arms affectionately. "So, what do you two plan to get up to today?" Yuki asks us. "Waterfall," Lyra and I say simultaneously. We had no previous discussion about this. We just both said what we wanted, and it turned out to be the same. It always happens, we rarely disagree. And when we do, it's solved in about three seconds. The only thing that we consistently differ on is Pokémon. She likes water and Ice types, I'm more of a Fire and Dragon man. She's being sensible, really. Water types are easy to find in Gradifal, and Ice pokémon are more tha abundant. Fire types are rare, and dragon types are close to impossible to find outside of Mt. Amarth. Maybe that's why they appeal to me, they're unique.

"Well, you two enjoy that. Look after each other. I've got to go, I've got my interview with the Professor today." She kisses both on the cheek, first me and then Lyra. "Bye darlings, don't get up to any trouble." And with that, she walks out the door. She's got an interview with Professor Hawthorn, the local Pokémon professor. She's been his understudy for months now, and she's hoping to get a proper job at the research lab. I'm almost completely certain she will. Nobody's taken a shine to pokémon knowledge as much as Yuki. She's a genius when it comes to that stuff. I turn to Lyra and grin. "Shall we get right to it then?" "I believe we shall." She says with a smile. We both get up and head for the door, me opening the door and letting her out. I'm kind of a gentleman. We walk, side by side, through the town, passing the rows of houses around ours, eventually getting past them. We're headed for the waterfall on the outskirts of town. It's just a small dip below a river, but there's a cave as well, and we like to explore it. We talk on the way there, mostly out usual argument about types of pokémon, but with a few family and social matters thrown in as well.

"Do you think Yuki will get the job?" asks Lyra. "Of course she will. She's the most deserving of all the applicants, plus, the professor really likes her. Lyra nods in agreement. "I didn't see Baxter this morning, Ly. Where is he?" Baxter is our pet. He's a Poochyena, given to us by a friend of my dad's for his birthday. My dad was delighted. He loves Baxter. He's a good pet, really affectionate. I don't think he could ever be taught to battle though. Not that he needs to. My dad has stopped him evolving twice already. He's thinking about getting him an everstone. "Oh, he went with dad to the pub. Probably hoping for scraps." I chuckle. Baxter loves food almost as much as Lyra and I. And Lyra and I really love food. "Sounds about right. Hey, did you hear that Hagane is coming back tomorrow?" I say with a smile. Hagane Youkou is my best friend, other than Lyra. He comes from Hoenn, and his visits his grandparents there for one month every year. I'm really looking forward to him coming back. "Oh, is he? That's good, I get someone to steal you from me for a while." She says, sticking her tongue out playfully. She actually gets jealous of Hagane. Not that she needs to, my time with her only suffers very slightly when he's around, and I always try to include her too. She just doesn't like not spending time with me. She hasn't got too many friends. Why? I have no idea.

We come to the waterfall, and Lyra immediately runs up to her favourite rock and climbs on top. She just likes sitting there. I make my way for the edge of the small pool created by the waterfall and look in. I like looking into the water. We sit in our separate areas silently, as we always do for the first while of the waterfall. It's not an awkward silence. We're just comfortable not speaking. I stare deep into the water, looking for nothing in particular. The only pokémon I've ever seen in here was a pretty measly Magikarp that ended up floating down the stream a little later that day. Occasionally I find a water stone in the pool, which I always secretly collect. I've got three at home. I plan to give any I find to Lyra when she gets her first pokémon, just in case she ever needs them. We both plan on going on Pokémon journeys, hopefully together, if the timing is right, but dad won't let us go until we catch our own pokémon in the wild. He says he doesn't want us being handed a pre-basic trained lab pokémon. He wants us to bond with our pokémon right from the start. Both Lyra and I have one pokéball each. She usually leaves her at home, because she thinks she'll never need it around these parts. She's not interested in the pokémon around our town, which are mostly Rattatas and Tailows. I'm not either, I just keep it on me, just in case.

I look around the pool a little more, and notice a small blue object sitting among the rocks. It looks like a shell or a stone, but I can't be sure. "Hopefully, it's another water stone." I think to myself. I reach into the water and touch it. Bigger than my hand. Size of a baby, the water must have distorted how it looked. Not a stone, any ways. It feels more like a shell, but it's sort of semi-scaley. I can't figure out what it is. I touch it a little harder, and suddenly it unfolds. I jump in shock and fall back from the pool, before quickly looking right back into the pool. I look around for it, and when I find it, I really look at it. I gasp aloud when I realise what it is. A Horsea. Lyra's favourite pokémon. Without taking my eyes off the pokémon, which is doing the same to me, I try to get Lyra's attention without scaring it away. It could easily swim down the stream and escape. "Lyyyyraaaaaaaaaa." I say softly, but noticeably. "Did you bring your pokéball with you today?" Lyra sits up, confused. "Um...no. Why?" I quickly reach to my belt and grab my pokéball, which I then roll along the ground towards her. "Pick that up, and get your ass over here." Lyra jumps down from the rock, picks up the ball, and walks slowly over to me. "You're freaking me out Kai. What..." She stops mid sentence when she sees what I'm talking about. "...Nooooo!" She exclaims in disbelief. The smile on her face is unbelievable. It looks like a capitol d. "How...what...oh Arceus!" She exclaims. "Ly, shut up and listen. You need to be ready. I'm going to reach in a flip it on to the land, so it'll be less likely to escape. You need to react FAST. Just use my ball and catch it, I'll take yours when I get home. Got it?" Lyra nods excitedly.

I count to three, and then quickly put my hands under the horsea and flip it onto the land. Poor thing gets scared half to death, but it'll be fine. Lyra, without missing a beat, throws the pokéball. Unfortunately, the Horsea hops out of the way, and is flies over my head. I leap into the air and catch it, before quickly turning around and throwing it at the Horsea again. I'm a much better shot than Lyra, it'll be easier this way. The ball hits the Horsea in the back as it tries to escape, and activates, sucking the pokémon inside. It lands with it's signature bump, and then wobbles. Once. The look of anticipation on Lyra's face is one I've never seen before. Twice. Her smile grows ever bigger as the ball wobbles. Thrice.

"CLICK."

Sparks fly from the red and white ball. It's caught. I caught the Horsea. Lyra squees in happiness, and absolutely sprints towards the ball. A Rapidash would feel threatened by her speed right now. She skips along the ground to pick up the ball and gets up again in one quick move, and then turns around and runs towards me. I did not foresee the consequences of catching her first and favourite pokémon for her. She jumps on me and hugs me, wrapping her legs and arms around me like a Slakoth. A glomp if there ever was one. I fall down onto my back, Lyra still hugging me. "!" Lyra screams happily. She says some other things, but my ears can't understand the frequency her voice is at. "It...it was no problem, Ly. It's your favourite, after all. Not like I was going to let it get away." Lyra gets up and runs around, holding the ball as if it's holy. "I can't believe it! My first AND my favourite pokémon at the same time! This is incredible!" She stares at the ball, and then holds up her pokédex to the ball. I forgot mines. "Lyra, it's a horsea, we already know that." I say, confused. "I want to find out the gender." She replies. The pokédex loads for a second, and then Lyra squees again. "A girl! It's a girl! I'm going to name it Bubbles!" She runs over to me again and hugs me. "Thank you Kai, thank you."

Just then, I hear a muffled, high pitched whine followed by a bubbling noise coming from the cave behind the waterfall. Lyra and I both look at it, confused, before she lets go of me and I go to investigate. I come to the mouth of the cave, and then immediately notice something. "There's a big pile of rocks here! Must have been a small cave in!" I hear the noise again, coming from inside the rocks. Without thinking, I start dragging rocks off the pile, making it smaller. I don't know why, I just do. Lyra's too busy staring at her pokéball, but that's understandable. I keep moving the rocks, the noise getting louder, until I come to a particularly big rock. I strain and lean back in an attempt to move it. As soon as I wedge a crack between the big rock and the others open, I seem to get some form of help, as the rock tips back. I manage to flip the rock over, and I immediately feel a sharp pound to my chest. I'm hit, like a punch, with so much force that I fly out of the cave and through the waterfall, into the pool. As I'm sinking, I grab whatever hit me in the chest in some form of panic. Long and smooth. I kick my legs, swimming towards the shore, moving both myself and carrying whatever hit me. As I near the edge, I feel Lyra grab me and pull me out of the water. I splutter and fall back, still clutching the mysterious assailant. With my eyes closed, I breathe heavily in and out, in an attempt to recover from the shock.

"Ly...Lyra, what the hell happened?" I'm answered with silence. "Ly?" I open my eyes and look at her. She's standing to the right of me, her hand over her mouth in shock. She's staring at my chest. I quickly release my arms and look down too. I do the exact same thing she does. I was right. Long and smooth. It's also blue and shiny. Soft and delicate. Amazing and beautiful. I can't believe what I'm looking at. I didn't even think it was possible. Lying on my chest is a Dratini. A weak, semi-conscious Dratini. It must have been trapped under those rocks for days. I just saved it.

I'm so wrapped up in wonderment and the beauty of the pokémon, that I temporarily fail to realise that this pokémon is hurt. Without a word to Lyra I stand up, still holding it, and wrap it around the back of my neck, hoping to support it. I start running towards town, Lyra realising what I'm doing and quickly following me. I run as fast as I can, which luckily is pretty damn fast. The town draws closer quickly, and as I rush into it, the houses become a blur. I don't even check if Lyra is keeping up, I just keep running. I come to the Pokémon centre before I realise it, and I run through the automatic doors. I rush to the counter and look for someone. "Excuse me," I shout, "I need help here! This pokémon is hurt!" A nurse, one of the Joys, comes around the corner behind the desk. "Oh my goodness!" she exclaims, "What happened?" "I found it in the cave by the waterfall. Some rocks had collapsed on top of it and it's been there, from the look of it, for a few days. Quick, it needs help." Joy nods, and I hand her the Dratini. It bubbles sadly as I hand it over. The nurse puts it on a bed and wheels it along. I look behind me. Lyra is right there. Looks like she kept up. "Come on then," she says with a smile, "You're not leaving that Dratini behind, and I'm most certainly not missing this chance to tell mum about my first pokémon. I'll go find her, and then I'll find you." I smile at my sister, before running off after the Dratini.

When I find it, it's hooked up to a machine. I can't remember what it does, but little electrodes are placed all over it. A little bag of fluid is connected to the Dratini, probably to combat dehydration. I stand at the bedside and watch Joy work on it. She doesn't even notice me. The dratini does though. It's still semi-conscious, and it bubbles as I walk in. After the bubbling, Joy turns and sees me. "You got him here just in time." She says with a smile. "Another few hours, it would have been done for. But, we can treat it. All going well, he should be fine by morning. You saved his life, sweetie." The Dratini, apparently male, seems to open it's eyes a little more and make a happy sounding blurb noise at that sentence. The nurse smiles again and touches my arm. "And I'm pretty sure he knows it, too."

The Dratini moves his gaze towards mines, which was already focused entirely on him. I smile at him. He seems to smile back.


	2. Chapter 2: Preparation is key

Shock is a funny thing. It sort of turns off your mind. You still think, you still act, you still consider. But it makes you overlook things. For example, I'm just now realising how insanely sore my chest is. I have the feeling I'm going to have a bruise shaped like a Dratini's head for quite some time. As well as that, I'm just now realising something far greater. I got headbutted in the chest by a Dratini. Emphasis on the Dratini part. Dratini's do not APPEAR in Gradifal. Taking the pokémon population as a whole, Dragon types make up less than one percent. And they're located entirely in and around Mt. Amarth, which is in the centre of the region. This doesn't make sense. I'm not complaining. The contrary. I'm bragging.

Lyra points at the Dratini lying on the bed in front of us. "...That's a Dratini." I stare at it, as I already was. I pretty much haven't taken my eyes off it. I'm not even fully confident that I've remembered to blink. "Yes Lyra. That is, indeed, a Dratini." Lyra turns to face me, at least I think she does, I just hear her. "How are you so calm?" I chuckle softly. "There has never been a better question in the history of existence." Lyra waves her hand in front of my face. "Hey. Hey. Look at me when I'm talking to you." With every ounce of my being, I strain to pull my gaze from the glorious dragon lying in front of me. I see Lyra holding a pokéball and smiling. Her smile is almost worth the Dratini. Almost. "Do you think I could let her out? What to you think would happen?" I grin, as the mischievous side of me takes over. "There's only one way to find out, isn't there?" I grab the ball from her and press the release.

The laser-like red beam of light hits the floor, and a small Horsea materialises at the bottom of it. It sits there, confused for a moment, until Lyra walks over to it. It looks up at her, scared. "Seaaaaa..." It says pitifully. I think I actually see Lyra's heart break a little at the sad Horsea. She immediately bends down and picks it up, holding it close to her chest, but not too tight. "Hey there. I'm Lyra. I'm the one who caught you." I cough rather loudly on purpose. "...Okay, Kai over there caught you, but only because I missed. You're my first pokémon ever, and you're also my favourite type of pokémon. I'm sorry for pulling you from the wild, but you looked like you were all alone, and I promise to take care of you. I'm a nice person, I promise." I smile softly and chip in. "It's true, she is." She smiles at my support. "That's my brother, Kasai. You can call him Kai though. He's a nice person too. He's the one who spotted you." The horsea looks over at me and seems to remember me. "I'm going to name you Bubbles. Do you like that name? Bubbles?" The Horsea looks at Lyra for a moment. "...Hoooooor-sea!" It says happily. Lyra leaps into the air in joy. I've never seen her so happy. It's brilliant.

But, then again, there is a Dratini I could be looking at. I turn around and look down at him again. He's awake now, and aware of my presence. Nurse Joy is standing over him, monitoring his status. I pull on her sleeve gently to ask her a few questions. "Um, excuse me Nurse, but...any idea why a Dratini might be here? I mean, this is miles away from Mt. Amarth." Joy turns to look at me. "Well, I don't really know, but it's been living in an environment like this for a while. See it's tail?" She points to the Dratini's tail. It's got a small, almost transparent fin with a light blue tint on it, similar to a Magikarp's, but a lot less noticeable. "I didn't know Dratini's have fins..." I reply. Nurse Joy smiles. "They don't, usually. But pokémon are very good at adapting. Many pokémon that have moved to new environments often evolve slightly after just a few generations, Houndooms, for example. Normally, they're coal black with very thin fun. But here in Gradifal, they have a slight white tinge over the top of them, like they've been sprinkled with snow, and they have slightly shaggier fur. So, from the tail, I would guess that this Dratini has lived in water for most of it's life, and it has done so for a few generations at the least." "Do you mean that Dratini's have lived in that cave for years?" I say with shock. She shrugs. "Maybe not that cave specifically, but definitely in the river connected to it. My guess is that it connects to Mt. Amarth somehow. You can ask Professor Hawthorne later, he'll want to see your Dratini." She says with a smile.

It hits me like a Snorlax from a balcony. MY Dratini. This is MY Dratini. I saved it. I found it. It's mine. I turn to Lyra. "Lyra...it's my first Pokémon..." Lyra just grins and holds up Bubbles. "You're a little late to the party there, Kai." She returns Bubbles to her chest and she snuggles up to her happily. "Yeah, but, Lyra, it's a Dratini! My first pokémon is a Dratini! Does that even happen?" It's my turn to be excited now. I adore dragon pokémon. I never expected to have one though. I kneel down beside the bed so that I'm eye level with the Dratini. "Hey there. I'm Kai. You probably remember headbutting me in the chest. I think I saved you from some rocks. I hope you weren't in there for long." He looks up at me and seems to understand what I'm saying. "...You're my first pokémon. Well, I suppose that's not for me to decide. I mean, I didn't actually catch you. But, if you want, you can be my pokémon. I'll treat you really well, I promise. So...what do you say? How about a bubble for yes, and a whine for no?" He looks up at me and doesn't make a sound. "...Want some time to think about it?" He bubbles.

I nod quietly. "That's okay, you take your time. I don't want to take you with me unless you want to come, so have a think about it." Just as I finish saying that, the door to the room burst open, and in walks an old man. Professor Hawthorne. "So, what's this I hear of a Dratini?" The nurse directs him to the bed. He walks over and stands above the Dratini, examining him with a sense of cold curiosity. I don't like it. He's looking at him like he's a specimen and not a living creature. "Oooh, yes. Very interesting. Very interesting indeed." "What's so interesting?" I inquire. The professor looks at me with a look of smugness and condescension. "Oh, simply it's tail. You wouldn't understand." I can't stand condescension. "Oh, you mean the fact that it's got a small fin as opposed to the usual serpentine tail, which is most likely the result of it living mostly in water all of it's life and having done so for at least a few generations, causing it to develop the fin for assisting in mobility whilst underwater?" The professor looks at me with an odd mix of being disgusted and being impressed on his face. "...Yes, quite."

"So, where did you find this?" The professor asks. I dislike the detachment he displays towards the Dratini. "I found HIM at the waterfall. He was trapped under a pile of rocks, which I dug him out of. He headbutted me in the chest and then I brought him here." Hawthorne looks at me, as if trying to detect a lie, and then does something unexpected. He smiles, softly. "Well well, it appears we have a very lucky trainer in the room. Not only catching a dragon type, which in itself is a feat to be impressed by, but catching one as his FIRST pokémon? Very impressive. Good show, Kasai." I start to wonder how he knows my name considering we've never met, but then I remember that he works with Yuki. She probably tells him about us. "Thank you professor, but he's not really mines yet. He hasn't decided if he wants to come with me." The professor raises and eyebrow. "Decided? You're letting the Dratini choose for itself?" "...Well...yeah. Why wouldn't I? It wouldn't be fair to force it to come with me. I didn't catch it with a pokéball, so it wouldn't be fair to claim it." The professor looks at me in disbelief and mutters something to himself. "...Mrmmbrrm...all coming true..." is all I can make out.

Suddenly, the Dratini starts making a bubbling noise, seemingly to get my attention. I turn to him and look down. He's wriggling slightly, and appears to be happy about something. "What is it?" I ask, knowing I won't get a real response. He bubbles at me. "...Have you decided to come with me?" I ask hopefully. The Dratini pauses for a moment, before closing it's eyes happily and bubbling. A smile creeps over my face, and I can feel myself beaming. "You can pick him up, he's pretty much okay now." Says Nurse Joy, seemingly reading my mind. I smile at her and reach down towards the Dratini. I pick him up and give him a little hug. He slithers up my arm and rests himself on my shoulders, semi-wrapped around the back of my neck. He sits there quite happily, gently nuzzling me with his little head. I feel like I'm about to cry from happiness, when I hear Lyra talking."He must have liked that you put so much thought into his opinion and wishes. You need to name him now." She says with a smile. "Now that he's yours, you have to name him." I gently hold the end of his tail with my thumb and my index finger and think for a moment. "I think I'll name him Blue, because he's blue. It's short and simple." Blue tightens around me slightly affectionately. "You like that name?" He bubbles at me. Lyra giggles. "You two are as uncreative as each other. It's perfect." And she's right. It is perfect.

"So, I guess you DID catch a dragon for your first pokémon, hmm?" says Professor Hawthorne "So, am I allowed to be impressed yet?" Something about his voice has changed. He seems much more friendly now. "I guess you are, Professor." I say with a brief smile. He reaches into his coat and pulls out an ultraball. "Here. You take this. He's a rare pokémon, so it's only fair he gets a higher standard of pokéball." He hands me the ultraball and I look at it in my hands. "Oh, thank you professor! I don't know what to say..." I hold it up to Blue. "What do you think, Blue?" Blue just sort of sniffs it and then leaves it alone. Hawthorne and I chuckle simultaneously. "That's common with Dragon types. The don't like the captivity of a pokéball, because they enjoy the independence and power of being out in the world. But, you'll need to use it on him sometimes. Not everywhere allows you to have a pokémon out of their pokéball."

The Professor turns to Nurse Joy. "Is little Blue here alright to leave the Pokémon centre, Nurse?" Joy smiles pleasantly. "I think he is, Professor." He turns to me and grins. "Excellent. That means you two shall be following me now. Come come, we have things to do now that you're trainers." He suddenly turns around and walks briskly out of the room, taking Lyra and I by surprise. We quickly follow him out of the room. The corridors pass us, followed by the centre doors, followed by the area surrounding it. After just a few minutes, we arrive at the pokémon research lab. I look up at it's large doors. They seem daunting. Large glass panel doors. As we approach them, they open automatically. They slide silently into the walls to the side of them, and we walk into the lab. We pass several people in white coats sitting at desks, working on all manner of pokémon related work. I catch a glimpse of an equation on a large white board in black marker. I don't see the full thing, but it was a statistical one, and the answer was 1 in 8192. I see a few rocks on display with something buried partially in each of them. A weird dome, some kind of spiral shell, some shiny orange stuff, some kind of root, a claw, a hard looking cap, what looks like a shield, a rock-like shell, and a feather. I can't make any sense of them, but they look really interesting. I might ask Hawthorne about them after all this. I like the orange stuff. We pass some scientists looking at a picture of an orange washing machine with a weird blue hue around it. I find it a little odd that pokémon scientists are looking at a washing machine. We pass a table with one of every type of evolution stone on it, and I stop for a moment and look at them. Gradifal is the leading region for Evolutionary stones, and is one of our main exports, but some of these are still difficult to find here. The Thunder stone and Moon stone, for example. "You can take a couple, you know. Our job here is to make pokémon trainer's lives easier, and we've got plenty of these. Just don't take a fire stone or a shiny stone, because we're short on those." I silently reach out and grab a Thunder stone and the Moon stone, not wanting to take any more. I look up at Hawthorne for approval. He just smiles. "That all you want? How unselfish of you. Well, let's move on."

We follow the professor into his main laboratory, in which we find Yuki. She squeals when she sees us and runs right at us. She's running in heels. How the hell does she do that? She reaches us and gives both me and Lyra a huge hug. "Oh! My baby brother and sister, catching their first pokémon! And at the same time, too! Now you can stick together! Oh, this is simply fabulous, darlings! I'm so proud of you both!" I guess the professor must have told her. She notices Blue. "Oh my! Is that...is that a Dratini?" I nod proudly. "Yep. His name is Blue." Yuki smiles in disbelief. "Oh, he's simply adorable! He's so darling! Isn't that right sweetie?" She pinches his cheek gently. He seems to actually enjoy it. She turns to Lyra. "And who is this adorable little Horsea, hmm?" Lyra beams, enjoying the attention her Horsea is getting. "Her name is Bubbles! Isn't she perfect?" Yuki bends down slightly to look at Bubbles. "Oh, she really is, sweetheart. She's precious." We hear the Professor clear his throat. "As much as I'm enjoying this cute little session, we have business to attend to. Yuki, as my newest employee in my very elite team of Scientists, could you please prepare the items?" Yuki beams, jumps back upright, and runs off behind some machines. "Follow me, children." The Professor says whilst walking to a small table to the right of the lab. It's covered with a cloth, and there's a few items on it. "Now, while we wait for your sister to get back, let me give you a little information. You are now pokémon trainers. Now, most trainers have to wait a few weeks after catching their first pokémon to receive their trainer licenses, but Yuki insisted I had these at the ready for when you caught your first." The professor hands us two laminated navy cards with a red header at the top, and slightly around the sides. On each of ours, it had our names and our trainer numbers. 01158 is mines. I look over at Yuki's card. 42685. We both smile at each other. "So, be thankful for that. Again, because you are Yuki's siblings, and Yuki is one of my best workers, I'm giving you a lot of special treatment, such as these." He hands us each six Ultraballs. "I give most trainers ONE Pokéball to start off, so again, be thankful. Now, these are to store the badges that I have no doubt you two will win." He hands us each a beautiful case with a cloth-like indented lining on the inside to hold each badge we earn. It's much better quality than any others I've seen. "And the last, but not least, gift I'm giving you before your sister returns is this." The professor holds out his hands. In each one is a lovely handcrafted flute. One is mostly black with a little white, and the other is the opposite. I reach out and take the predominantly white one. "These will provide amusement and music to your journey, and they may just come in useful. Yuki actually made both of those. Under my instruction, of course."

Yuki suddenly returns holding two black boxes. "I got them, professor. Here they are!" She hands them to the professor, who then opens them. Out of each, he pulls a glove. A left handed and right handed one, the left being white and the right being black. They each have a small screen on them. "These," the professor says, "are my latest invention. It's called a Pokéglove. The name needs work, I know, but you two can work on that yourselves." He hands the left on to Lyra, because she's left handed. Yuki must have told him. He hands the right handed one to me. "You are the only two people in the world to posses one of these. It's a multi-functional glove. Is senses things like your pulse, your breathing rate, and basically your general health. As well as that, it wirelessly links to any pokéballs on your person and tells you the condition of the pokémon inside them, or in the case of Blue and Bubbles, any pokémon held on your person, or walking directly beside you. All this is displayed on the touchscreen on the glove. As well as all these features, it also has a pokédex of all Pokémon known to appear in Gradifal installed too. All you have to do is press the button labeled "DEX" and hold the glove up to whatever pokémon you need to identify, or just scroll if you just want information. The final feature, for now, there will be upgrades, is one that your sister insisted I install. The outside of the glove is fused with a substance comprised of the DNA of several different types of rock and steel pokémon mixed with that of a Ditto, which allows it to change on command. Simply press the red button on the side of the glove, and it will harden to become exceedingly strong. This can be used, and we HAVE tested this, to punch through solid rock, and most man made substances. Your sister was concerned you might become trapped or be in danger, and so insisted on this feature."

Lyra and I stand in front of Professor Hawthorne and Yuki, speechless. I have no idea to react to all these amazing items. "Professor...and Yuki...I really don't know what to say." Professor Hawthore simply grins, casually pats Blue's head, followed by Bubbles'. He walks slowly to the table behind the one we're at, with the cloth over it, gesturing for us to follow. We do, and he stands behind the table. "Oh, you only need to do one thing for me, Kasai." He whips the tablecloth away, revealing three small red and white orbs lined side by side on the table. I can't believe what I'm seeing. "Oh yes Kasai. See, there's only one thing I want you to do for me."

"Choose your next pokémon!"


End file.
